Apparatus for dry defibering of fibrous materials



Dec. 21, 1965 H. BIDWELL 3,224,687

APPARATUS FOR DRY DEFIBERING OF FIBROUS MATERIALS Filed Feb. 9, 1962 INVEN TOR. Hun/22rd BJQQl/E/f BY 4-77.2a

United States Patent 3,224,687 APPARATUS FUR DRY DEFHBERING 0F FIBRQUSMATERIALS Howard Bidwell, Granby, Mass, assignor of one-half to RachelBidwell, Granby, Mass. Filed Feb. 9, 1962, Ser. No. 172,321 1 Claim.(Cl. 241-55) This invention relates to an apparatus for defiberingfibrous material, in a dry state, including such materials as untannedhides, leather, and similar fibrous protein materials, either in theform of scraps, trimmings or otherwise.

It is the principal object of the invention to reduce such materials toa pulp of substantially individualized fibres which may be subsequentlyfabricated to molded form, board, sheets or webs, by conventionalmolding procedures or to sheet and web form by techniques such as areused in making paper.

A further object is to provide Ways and means of defibering suchmaterials, and conditioning the fibres for the formation of a pulpproduct.

Other and further objects will be made apparent in the followingspecification and claim.

The fibrous structure of green hide lacks strength and durability, andby chemical means and techniques familiar to the tanning industry thehides are transformed into leather having strength, durability and longlife.

In accordance with the present invention the raw hide material issubjected, either before or after any or all of the various usualtreatments commonly employed prior to tanning operations, to dehydrationby sublimations by which the moisture in the material is firstcrystallized and removed by sublimation, using known techniques.Following such dehydration the hide material is defibered by pressingthe material against a coarse granular surface and effecting relativemovement between the material and such surface while maintaining thepressure. By this procedure the fibres of the material are abraded fromthe material and collected, in any suitable manner, as a dry mass offibres. The fibres are then dispersed in tanning liquors of conventionalcharacter whereby the strength and durability characteristic of leatherare imparted to the fibres. The tanning liquors are pressed or otherwiseremoved in whole or in part from the fibres, and the fibres washed, asand if found desirable, prior to the fabrication of the fibres intomoldings or into sheet or web form.

By the method above described the raw hide material is reducedsubstantially to individual fibres and the fibres thereafter tanned inan individualized state.

It has been found that hides in the so-called limed dehaired condition,when treated with a permanent preservative such as formaldehyde and/ orsimilar preservatives by soaking in solution, and later air or otherwisedried, may be defibered directly without further processing, into afinely defibered state, by applying the hide to a coarse granularsurface in relative motion.

Leather material may be similarly treated. However, in the case ofleather the material may be directly subject to the described defiberingattrition. The individualized leather fibres, having previously beentanned, are directly dispersed in a water or other suitable liquidcarrier, to which a suitable wetting or dispersing agent has been added.The dispersing liquid is then pressed or otherwise removed in whole orin part as desired or found desirable prior to fabrication of the fibresinto moldings or into sheet or web form.

While the method has been particularly described with respect to animalhides, and it is particularly applicable to such materials, it will beunderstood that other fibrous Patented Dec. 21, 1965 animal productssuch for example as muscular material, may be similarly processed.

The accompanying drawing discloses one embodiment of means for carryingout the defibering steps of the methods of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view, parts broken away, of apparatus forcarrying out the defibering of fibrous animal material in accordancewith the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view substantially on line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating certain steps in the method.

Referring to the drawings an electric motor is generally indicated at 1,the casing of which includes a cap plate 2. A housing generallyindicated at 3 is mounted on circumferentially spaced lugs 4 secured toplate 2 as by cap screws 5. Housing 3 comprises an annular lower member6, welded or otherwise secured along its lower edge portion to the lugs4 as indicated at 7. The upper portion of housing 3 comprises an annularwall member 8 provided with an outwardly extending flange 9, which issecured to a mating flange 10, formed on lower housing member 6, as bycap screws 11. A disc 12 is welded at its edges to the upper edge ofwall member 8 as indicated at 13.

Disc 12 is provided with a plurality of circular openings 14 in each ofwhich is mounted a cylindrical magazine chamber 15 which is open at eachend. The lower ends of the magazines 15 extend downwardly into thechamber 16, formed by the described housing members, and into closeproximity to the upper surface of a ro tatable member, generallyindicated at 17. Member 17 comprises a disc 18, provided with a hub 11?which is splined at 20 to the driving shaft 21 of motor 1, and anannular member 22 which is concentrically spaced from and secured todisc 18 by fan forming vanes 23.

Annular member 22 carries on its upper surface a granular surfacedmember 24. Member 24 is secured in any suitable manner to members 23 andmay be formed as a thin disc made up of coarse irregular jagged granulesof alumina oxide, silicon carbide, or other hard material, bondedtogether by any suitable bonding material such as is used in makingabrasive wheels or it may comprise a sheet of metal or other materialcoated with such hard abrasive granules.

Preferably the cylindrical magazines are adjustably mounted in housingmember 12, as by angle brackets 25, welded to member 12, and providedwith set screws 26 threaded through the brackets 25 for tightenedengagement with the outer surface of the magazines, whereby the spacingof the ends of the magazines from the granular surface of member 24 maybe adjusted.

The contents of the magazines are pressed against the granular surfaceof member 24 by any suitable means, such as perforated removableweighted members, one of which is indicated at 27, slidably positionedin the magazines to rest on the contents of the magazines after thelatter are filled, the degree of pressure exerted on the material beingadjusted by selection of suitable weights for members 27. Advantageouslywhen whole green or tanned hides are to be defibered they are rolled upand the roll inserted in the magazines on end as indicated at 28 in FIG.2. Upon rotation of member 17 by the motor air is drawn through themagazines into chamber 16, and through the central opening 29 in theannular member 22 by the action of fan blades 23 and discharged by thelatter to scroll passage 30 formed in housing member 6 and whichincreases in diameter to its discharge end 31.

In operation the magazines are adjusted in the openings 14 so that theirlower ends clear the working surface of member 24 and provide asufficient space through which the separated fibres are drawn by the aircurrent through the material in the magazines created by the fanelements of member 17 to keep the working surface of member 24Operatively clean and draw the separated fibres through chamber 16,opening 29, member 17, and scrooll passage 30 to discharge opening 31.

In general a relatively low speed with an abrading surface of coarsegranules is preferable to high speeds and relatively fine granules, asthe latter tends to give a high percentage of fines. High speeds alsotend to the creation of excessive heat at the working face of member 24.

It may be found desirable that the speed of member 24 be lowered to thepoint where member 17 ceases to act as a fan wheel but rather as meansfor cooling the member 24 in which case a suitable inducer fan 33 (FIG.3) may be inserted in the discharge line 32 outwardly of the dischargeend 31 of the scroll 30 to create sufficient air velocity to transportthe separated fibres.

In FIG. 3 a defibering unit such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 isdiagrammatically indicated at A. Airborne fibres are discharged throughthe pipe line 32 and inducer 33 to any suitable type of air separator 34where the fibres are showered with a liquid which in the case of leatherfibres may be water and a suitable wetting agent, or in the case of rawhide fibres, suitable tanning liquors, and collected in a tank 35 fromwhich the slurry is pumped by a pump 36 in pipe line 37 to a suitablepress 38 which removes the liquid, in whole or in part, from the fibres,the recovered liquid being collected in a tank 39 from which it isreturned through pipe line 40 by a pump 41 to the air separator 34 forreuse. Made up liquid may be supplied to tank 35 as at 42 or to anyother suitable point in the system.

From press 38 the moist fibres are discharged through a pipe line 43 toa storage receptacle or directly to further processing devices asdesired.

While the apparatus of the present invention has been described inconnection with, and is of special utility, in the dry defibering oftanned and untanned hides, it will be understood that it is not limitedto such use.

What is claimed is:

In reduction apparatus for defibering dry state fibrous material to apulp of substantially individualized fibers for subsequent fabrication,the combination of, a housing, a rotatable member disposed within saidhousing and having a disc and an annular member spaced from and coplanarwith each other and with a plurality of fan forming vanes disposedtherebetween a granular surfaced member on the upper surface of theannular member, a plurality of fibrous material receiving tubularmagazines extending into said housing and each having an opening at itsinner end substantially adjacent said granular surfaced member, saidhousing being provided with a discharge opening, means for pressing thefibrous material Within each of said magazines into engagement with saidgranular surfaced member, drive means for moving said rotatable memberrelative to said magazines for freeing fibers from the bodies of fibrousmaterial and for inducing an air flow by means of the vanes capable ofdrawing the freed fibers away from said rotatable member and expellingthe freed fibers through the discharge opening of said housing.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Re: 930 3/1860Wagener 241-47 6,827 10/1849 Fagin 241-47 305,062 9/1884 Ely 241-136 X305,063 9/1884 Ely 241-278 X 367,504 8/1887 Curtis 241-151 850,1464/1907 Ernst 894.15 1,083,300 1/1914 Rohm 894.16 1,883,876 10/1932 Brown241-28 1,990,121 2/1935 Halloron 106-155 2,138,716 11/1938 Truitt241-278 X 2,973,152 2/1961 Owens 241-29 3,035,621 5/1962 Burcham 241-56X 3,067,958 12/1962 Garwin 241- 3,119,569 1/1964 Baricordi 241-55 J.SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

ABRAHAM H. WINKELSTEIN, Examiner.

